A Fairy Good Christmas
by FoxoftheDesert
Summary: RedQueen Ruby decides to live on the edge and give Regina a grand surprise this Christmas. She's pretty sure it's gonna win her some brownie points, but one can never be sure where Her Majesty is concerned.


**AN** : This is set in the AU A Fairy Bad Mistake that I published for the recent Red Queen Week. Read that isn't necessary though. Merry Christmas!

 **Atypical Disclaimer** : They ain't mine. Just borrowing them. Don't sue me please!

* * *

Ruby is no stranger to surprises. On her thirteenth birthday, she'd come home from a long day foraging in the woods to an empty house and a present waiting for her on her bed. Gift-wrapped in delicate cloth, the box posed a tantalizing temptation her insatiable curiosity could not resist, even if she knew she was supposed to wait for her grandmother to get home from her short sojourn to purchase supplies at the nearby village. Granny was as well known for her frugal nature as she was her short temper, so the relative extravagance had Ruby nipping at the bud to get at whatever unexpected goody lurked inside. It had been her famous red cloak. She was so enamored of it, so giddy over its intricate design and incredibly fine material, that she wore it nonstop for weeks.

If only she'd known that otherwise wonderful surprise was the beginning of a slow burn toward two nasty ones in a row. Discovering she was a monster with an insatiable appetite for human flesh was bad enough, but that it came at Peter's expense only made the horror all the more traumatic. And then there was happening across her mother's werewolf pack. By then, Ruby shouldn't have been caught off guard by Anita not living up to the expectations of a young girl who'd had all sorts of sugar plum and fairy dreams about the woman who gave her life. And yet, she was still completely blindsided when her mother made her pick between her blood family and the one she'd chosen with Snow. That she and her new friend became sisters out necessity hadn't even entered into the equation for Ruby.

She has yet to fully recover from either of those events; turns out they were the gift that kept on giving. Hell, she still battles nightmares rooted Peter's death. Just now it's not Peter the beast within has devoured, but Regina, which makes the paralyzing terror even worse. As close as she was to Peter, as much as she cared for him, their love pales in comparison to what she has with Regina. She'd given her naive heart and her virginity to the sweet son of the local blacksmith, and his death had emotionally crippled her for decades. But to the Queen she has poured out her immortal soul. There is no surviving that sort of loss. Not for her.

Just the same, she often struggles with guilt over being responsible for her own mother's death, especially so now that she has a daughter of her own. Mireya's childish curiosity is a mirror image of her own at that tender age, and Ruby has come to dread the inevitable questions about the grandmother her Mama refuses to talk about beyond, " _She died a long time ago, honey._ " Regina is much more comfortable relating some of the good memories she has of Cora, but Ruby still can't speak her mother's name without choking back tears. That day, she'd not only deprived herself of a mother but her yet-to-be-conceived child of a grandparent, which in Storybrooke, and their family in particular, are an exceedingly precious commodity. Forgiving herself for that trespass has proven more challenging and upsetting than it was for murdering Peter.

But at least those horrific tragedies do not represent the whole of Ruby's checkered history with surprises. In the years since, she's had a few that have afforded her more happiness than any person ought to have a right to. Mireya was one of those, her precious baby girl who could instantly improve Ruby's mood with a smile or a laugh or an, " _I love you, Mama._ " Above all else, Regina reigned the supreme, undisputed love of her life.

Who could have predicted that Ruby's most cherished surprise ever would be the former Evil Queen magicking into the Royal Palace of Oz, all haughty and in command and beyond gorgeous in her Queenly apparel, for the sole purpose of wooing one painfully ordinary Ruby Lucas. Of course, Ruby hadn't know that at the time. Like a truly gullible guppy, she'd swallowed down – hook, line, and sinker – Regina's sly but truthful story about traveling to Oz in order to track down her True Love. Of course, Ruby being Ruby offered her help without any reservation whatsoever; any reason at all would have sufficed to be close to the woman who for thirty years had held her fantasies hostage with sinfully revealing leather outfits and restraints and toys that tested her ability to keep her composure even in the throes of a dream. Ruby can still picture the secret smile that spread over Regina's lush lips when she'd all but demanded to be included in the search because she was so grateful for the peace of mind and newfound confidence Regina gave her with the Dark Curse. Audaciously insinuating herself back into Regina's life, or rather the opposite if she's being technical, was the beginning of the end for her fleeting romance with Dorothy. Good thing, too, blissfully happy as she and her former lover are with their current spouses.

The only rival in Ruby's heart for that predominant spot came a couple years later when the deceptively simple stick Regina peed on announced she was pregnant. Somehow, it hadn't been all that unforeseen to Regina that the spell she'd got hold of from her alternate in the Wish World would bear such miraculous fruit. Ruby had thought what it did to her was plenty shocking. But no! With a string of indecipherable words and a flick of the wrist, Regina initiated two weeks filled to the brim with as much sex as Ruby could stand in her temporary new... _condition;_ and sometime during that period of intense confusion and lust and discomfort and wavering self-control, she knocked her wife up. Best damn accident that ever happened to them both.

Mireya is seven now, and is the apple of her Mommy's eye and her Mama's pride and joy. Sometimes Ruby looks back on her life before her daughter was born and wonders how she and Regina endured the emptiness and quiet that they used to so enjoy when the only kid in the house was a teenager who mostly preferred solitude to the company of adults. Now, whenever Mireya isn't at home with them, it takes at least a couple hours to figure out what to do with themselves. Maybe, she thinks, it's just an existentially relative thing, that they've simply acclimated to Mireya's cacophonous, Energizer Bunny-like motor propelling her throughout the house at all hours of the evening. Whatever the case, they sure as hell do miss their baby when she's gone – which isn't all that often because neither of them are enthusiastic about Mireya having grown up enough to have sleepovers with her BFF, Ella, even if they know Emma and Elsa, Ella's moms, are more than capable of taking care of her.

When Emma and Elsa picked Mireya up for her first sleepover, Ruby dissolved into a fit of tears the second the door clanked shut behind her. All she could see was bouncing raven curls and a little red backpack moving further and further away from her. It really hit her then, as she watched her daughter skip hand-in-hand with her best friend toward Elsa's more reasonable vehicle, that one day it would happen again. Only Mireya wouldn't be so little then, and she wouldn't be coming back tomorrow, and what was Ruby going to do when her baby moved away to go to college or halfway across the world for her career or even just across town to her own apartment? How was she supposed to handle letting her child out of her sight for more than the eight hours the stupid school system required of her five days a week? For that matter, how had Regina done the same with Henry? If it weren't for Regina gently explaining that she still yearned for the days her Little Prince needed her and that she'd just learned to live with the pervasive ache of his absence, Ruby might never have left the corner she'd curled up into to cry out her despair.

Her reaction, as absurdly dramatic as it was, is a bit funny in retrospect because she never thought she'd be that kind of clingy, sentimental, overly emotional Mom. To be honest, she didn't really think she'd ever be a Mom at all. Finding out she was a werewolf the way she did wasn't conducive to inspiring confidence in her ability to rear a child that was all but assured to inherit her condition. Needless to say, when Regina shoved the little white stick with a pink plus sign on it into her face, Ruby nearly lost her shit on a grand scale reminiscent of some Shakespearean drama. They hadn't been planning on getting pregnant. Hadn't really talked about it much aside from Regina's oblique mentions of her time in the Wish World. But ready or not, the reality was upon her, and all she could do was hang on for the ride.

And what a hell of a ride it was. Regina is a moody woman when her hormones are in perfect balance. Pregnant Regina is a monster of entirely different stripes. Jesus Christ! There were occasions Ruby wanted to scream and tear her hair out by the roots because Regina was taking out her pregnant lady discomfort on the nearest available target. Ninety-nine percent of the time the poor sap wearing the bullseye was Ruby.

As a combat veteran, she was no stranger to taking a shellacking, thus had thought she would quickly adapt to being a human punching bag for her mate. Which she did for the most part. It's just sometimes that was not a metaphor for weathering snark levels that often sent everyone else running for the hills. For such a little lady, Regina sure can deliver a fearsome jab. Worthy of Larry Holmes, if Ruby is any reliable judge. Anyone who doesn't believe that can ask her oft abused shoulders, since they bore the brunt of Regina's frustrations as her hormones increasingly ran roughshod through her ever-changing body and she soon enough lost the ability to walk without waddling. Once, Ruby made the regrettable mistake of comparing her encumbered wife's awkward movement to that of a Jackass Penguin. Took six days for that awesome bruise to fade.

There were other times Ruby wanted to bawl her eyes out and-slash-or howl at the moon for joy, mainly when the baby started kicking and moving around and she could feel all of it happening right there underneath the hand atop her wife's enormously round belly. At night, she loved to settle in on her stomach between Regina's legs, elbows propped on either side of Regina's hips, so that while her wife read Cold War era spy novels she could talk to the baby. Every so often, Regina would glance down at her bare belly, Ruby having rolled her overlarge nightshirt up for better access, as Ruby blabbed away about how one day she was gonna teach their daughter how to drive stick shift in her beloved Camaro, how to play basketball and inculcate a love for running so they could go together for night runs through the woods on the many miles of trails the Curse included. She was most certainly going to teach her how to hunt with bow and arrows, how to properly fish without all the crazy modern doo-dads that make it way too easy, and to forage for herbs both medicinal and nutritional just like Granny had done with her back in the Enchanted Forest. And she was gonna do that whether Regina approved or not, which normally earned a sharp arching of a sable brow.

Mostly Regina was content to just let Ruby jabber on until her overactive genius brain was tired enough to shut off for seven and a half hours. But every now and then, she'd laugh and sift a hand through Ruby's hair whilst adding a smart ass comment at some of the more absurd things Ruby would say. Such as how Ruby wasn't gonna allow their child to date until she was thirty, and even then would bring out the wolf to put the fear of God into any potential suitors. That had been an amusing, and arousing exchange…

* * *

" _That manner of adolescence will only prove one thing, darling," Regina had said, eerily poised, so unfairly ravishing, and somehow managing to sound exceptionally sarcastic and condescending, all in spite of her swollen ankles and fuller face that visually softened her typical edginess. "That you're a total bitch."_

 _Glaring in mock outrage, Ruby poked her tongue out at the contextual jab. "Har har. You're just so hilarious..." Trailing off, she huffed as if annoyed, then started to stroke the stretched flesh of Regina's stomach. After pressing a kiss right over the navel, she murmured against Regina's skin to their rapidly growing daughter, "Don't listen to her sweetie. She's just cranky 'cause you like to practice drumming Guns 'N Roses songs on her bladder every night. Mama is only a bitch a couple days a month. Unlike Mommy here," she gestured toward Regina, who she didn't even have to peer up at to know was rolling her eyes, "who prides herself on being one sixty hours a week."_

 _Regina made a noise of smug affirmation at the reference to her professional persona. "Damn straight, I am. Best not forget it, either, since I sign the paychecks for half the employed persons in this town, most of whom frequent your Diner. Also, remember that I can lock the bedroom door to where even you can't get in."_

 _Ruby gasped in horror at the last bit. "You wouldn't dare..." It was rhetorical. She knew very well Regina would do just that, and had in the recent past._

 _That said, the mere suggestion of her having to spend the night on the couch, and away from her beloved wife, for such a benign comment was tantamount to blowing up a Barbie Doll with a brick of C4. She still hadn't recovered from the Wolf's Time three months back, after which she was similarly banished for an entire week. As if it was the end of the world she'd destroyed one stupid flower bed chasing down a demented bunny that had been tormenting her for hours. Hours! Nipping at her paws hard enough to draw blood, for Christ's sake! The little fluffy brown devil had deserved to die. The flowers were an admittedly tragic collateral damage of the unique brand of criminal justice practiced in the wild. A week on the couch as punishment for such a noble pursuit? Talk about cruel and unusual._

 _Meanwhile, Regina's lips turned up at the corners as one dark brow arched. Her mind had obviously taken the same track as Ruby's. "Wouldn't I, though?"_

" _You know, Regina Mills," Ruby had said, by then adopting her most impudent pout, "you are an evil, evil woman."_

" _When it comes to getting what I want, I most certainly I am." Gone in an instant was Regina's aggravation at Ruby. In a complete tonal one-eighty, it had been replaced by a sweetness to her words that often showed up at breakneck speed at the tail end of a tantrum. That or she randomly burst into tears. Damn pregnancy hormones._

" _And what's that?" Ruby had asked, already knowing the answer by the glint of lust in Regina's eyes. Another perk of pregnancy was that Regina's already healthy libido went into overdrive. Some days it was all Ruby could do to keep her sated, and that was saying something because if there is one thing Ruby was always an overachiever at, it's sex. Her past lovers, pre-, during, and post-Curse could attest to that, though Regina forbade all mention of them in her presence. Something about wanting to avoid unnecessary bloodshed._

" _A healthy baby, for one," Regina answered, then covered Ruby's hand on her belly, giving it a squeeze. That was a desire they shared in tandem._

" _And secondly?" Ruby prompted, nipping at her lower lip, which caught Regina's attention. She watched, nether regions inflaming, as those rich brown eyes were swallowed up by black pupils fully dilating._

 _Crooking her index finger, Regina made a come-hither motion at Ruby, then said in her most Queenly timbre, "For my Chatty Cathy wife to stop yapping and start kissing. Preferably up north first, but I'm flexible on that point."_

 _Ruby was hardly able to smother a wanton moan and her mouth began to water at the neon 'Open For Business' sign being powered on at the world's most delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. "Is that so?"_

" _That is, indeed, so." Regina paused, her entire frame humming with sultry energy, and tilted her head slightly to the left. "So tell me, Mrs. Mills, who are you going to be first tonight? Locasta or Glinda?"_

* * *

That was a good night, made even better by Regina granting permission to smother her tummy with kisses before her mouth got the same attention – Ruby liked being Locasta first because that meant her lips were good and warmed up before she licked, laved, and kissed her way down to the opposite cardinal direction.

In all, Regina's pregnancy was nine months, three days, and twenty-two hours of such surprises, both positive and negative, that Ruby wouldn't trade for anything in all the wide world. And that's why, while some her experiences have been undeniably catastrophic, she hasn't let those outliers change her love of being the beneficiary of a good surprise. How could she when some have made her the happiest woman on any world?

Sadly, that is an opinion her wife does not share. For instance, every Christmas, Regina gives her a list of acceptable items that would not displease her, which saps a lot of the fun out of the holiday. Not that Christmas with Regina isn't enchanting in every other way. It's just Ruby wouldn't mind a little more spontaneity.

Regina's experience with surprises hasn't been the best either, of course, but Ruby still wishes that she could do more to ease her wife into at least tolerating the occasional unanticipated gift. And thus the gigantic risk she's decided to take this year. Really, she's gone overboard to a level that astounds even her, but she figures it's go big or go home. If she's gonna spend a few weeks in the doghouse over this, may as well have it be for something worthwhile. Which she knows this will be, 'cause it's something she knows for a fact Regina will be helpless to refuse.

Giddy at the prospect of seeing her wife's face when she's presented with her Christmas surprise, Ruby bounds out of bed at 5:30 in the morning, an hour early, just so she can finish up the arrangements. Before starting, she heads to the living room where she lights the Christmas tree, tosses on her well-loved Santa hat, then indulges in a bit of lounging on the couch in little more than one of Regina's v-neck tees over top her comfy yet slinky cotton panties.

Normally Regina, ever the conservative parent, makes her put something on lest their daughter ramble downstairs early and get an eyeful. Ruby doesn't understand the necessity for her to cover up when the shorts she usually throws on do little better for her legs and ass than nothing at all, or when Regina can't seem to stop staring in such circumstances whenever Ruby deliberately and methodically recrosses her legs. Besides the pleasing reaction her relative state of undress provokes in her wife, she isn't the slightest bit ashamed of her body, and furthermore doesn't want Mireya to be constrained by her older mother's pedantic sense of domestic propriety. Sometimes it's okay to parade about the house in one's underwear, dammit – an argument that has yet to persuade Regina to quit her otherwise humorous grumbling.

That said, Ruby has never been one to give up. There will come a day, whether it be a month or a year or a decade from now, that she'll drag Regina downstairs in a flimsy shift for a some early morning cuddles on the couch that may or may not also involve some not-entirely-innocent fooling around. It's so gonna happen, whether Regina wants to admit it or not!

Shades thrown open, Ruby watches the sun rise over the smooth blanket of white covering the front yard, smiling like an idiot as she sips from the steaming mug of coffee she'd brought along into the living room. It's a perfect morning for casually observing the tranquil beauty of nature currently on display, as if for her personal enjoyment, and to indulge in some silent reverie over her ridiculous good fortune in the lottery of life.

Ten years ago, she couldn't have imagined ever being so happy. She'd been a lonely person back then, a werewolf without a pack and a woman without a purpose. Now her life is so stuffed with blessings it's all she can do to remember how to breathe when it all catches up to her at once. For the past three years, she 's had a pack of her own – honest-to-goodness werewolves comprised mainly of refugees from a world where their kind are persecuted by ivory-skinned blood-suckers straight out of an Anne Rice novel. Ruby is proud to serve as their alpha, and equally proud to have Regina forever by her side, lending strength, wisdom, and cunning that Ruby doesn't always possess. She's always been a bit of a hot-head, the type to jump into the fire and then yelp in consternation when her tail catches fire. Forethought is not her strong suit. Regina, though, buttresses those weaknesses in her just as she does the same for Regina's vulnerabilities. They are each other's balance in life, an unbreakable team who had tackled some problems together that Ruby is sure would have been way too much for her to handle on her own.

Why she held out so long turning Regina is a mystery even to her, as their intrinsic bond only deepened with yet another commonality between them. The wolf is an extreme exaggeration of a person's character, which means Regina's only enhanced the seductive edginess of the Queen and made her an even better mate to Ruby. Not that she wasn't already spectacular in that regard.

Since the beginning of their relationship, even counting their significant missteps along the way, Regina has been the best partner Ruby could have asked for. She's Ruby's everything: an eternal challenge wrapped up in razor-sharp wit, biting sarcasm, and insufferable mulishness; inspiration for Ruby's every low point in life; the glue that holds not only their family but their entire town together; and a woman who encapsulates, in one irresistibly tantalizing package, all Ruby ever dreamed of finding in a lover – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Regina is a mischievous turn of luscious lips and a wicked gleam in rich earthen eyes. She's the moon, enormous of influence, capable of shifting tides and providing balance to an otherwise off-kilter existence; a marvel sheathed in pale luminescence that brightens the darkest nights. She's a winsome, wistful smile when Mireya does something too cute for words to describe and tangible irritation when their daughter is behaving a little too much like her taller mother: all rambunctious, boundless energy that refuses to be tamed despite her occasionally imperious mother's best efforts. She's a lazy good morning kiss – morning breath be damned, though it's easily ignored as, for one, the woman is too sexy in the nascent sunlight, all beautifully disheveled and smelling otherwise delicious, for Ruby to deny for such a minor offense; and secondly, it's so faint only Ruby's sensitive nose could detect it because pretty much every little detail about Regina is almost too perfect to be real – and velvet fingers brushing gently, teasingly down the length of Ruby's legs and spine and arms until their morning routine is most pleasantly derailed. She's an epic row when one or both of them are in a snit, which includes a lot of visible if not audible rage if Mireya is at home, and if not, a lot of screaming that sometimes devolves into everything short of fireballs being lobbed at Ruby's head. She's also the epic make-up sex a few hours or days later that invariably ruins a piece or two of furniture or several items of clothing or both. She's quiet evenings on the couch, feet propped up in Ruby's lap so Ruby can idly massage the soles to relieve a day's worth of work-related stress, a cozy fire blazing in the hearth as they read their books and sip expensive wine from delicate long-stemmed glasses that cost more than Ruby used to make in a week before Granny, with Regina's surreptitious aid, signed over ownership of the Diner and B&B to her only grandchild. She's the little spoon to Ruby's big one, fitting so snugly together that it's like their bodies were crafted as a two-piece puzzle set that took fifty years to reassemble. And she is the tangible symbol of everything worth having and keeping, everything of value for which Ruby would gladly and selflessly fight for and die for. And live for, each and every day.

Regina is home. The best Ruby's ever had, too, and that's saying something because if there was one thing Granny was always good at besides darning socks and shooting squirrels through the eye with crossbow bolts, it was making wherever they were feel like the place she belonged. Only with Regina the effect is amplified, seemingly by infinity, so that Ruby can no longer imagine a life absent of her wife's immeasurably vital presence. Being deprived of Regina would be like her lungs being forever robbed of air, like the grass without rain to give relief from the unrelenting sun or the dew to nourish it of a morn, or like an aged wolf suddenly thrust in tiny cage having been otherwise free to roam all its life. Without Regina, Ruby would die. Maybe not physically, but in every other way, and that's something she doesn't even want to contemplate. Not ever. Certainly not on Christmas morning.

Batting away a few rogue tears that sprang up at the acutely sentimental turn of her thoughts, Ruby inhales deeply then releases her breath as slowly as she can.

 _Regina is just upstairs_ , she reminds herself, _soundly and peacefully sleeping, and it won't be long now before you're in her arms again._

Contentment settles deep into her bones, along with a comforting warmth from the still-hot mug clutched between her hands, at the thought of being wrapped around Regina, breathing in her scent, absorbing her body heat, reassured by the solidity of her form, the strength of her feminine muscles, and the love ever-present in her eyes. If this were some special feeling that only accompanies the counting of blessings during the holiday season, she probably would have let herself cry in earnest. But it isn't at all aberrant. She feels this way every morning, and has pretty much since the day she moved in to Regina's gigantic house that is now hers, too. That's what makes her life so miraculous. It's ordinarily extraordinary because of the woman with whom she shares True Love and with whom she made the most amazing kid to ever be born.

Buoyed by her enviable luck, Ruby spends another half hour or so simply staring out the window, basking in the wonder of wonders that is her present existence. Eventually, though, her lazy time comes to an end when she hears the first faint stirs of wakefulness from upstairs. Her keen ears pinpoint the source as coming from the bedroom she'd snuck out of some hour and change prior.

Rising from the couch, Ruby shuffles into the kitchen to drop her empty mug in the sink before retreating to the office she shares with her wife, cellphone in hand, to make those arrangements she'd put off long enough. A couple of phone calls later to some folks with varying degrees of morning grumpiness and whose help has been necessary for her to pull off the mother of all surprises, Ruby floats on a cloud of seasonal merriment into the kitchen to begin cooking her traditional Christmas Breakfast: chocolate gravy and homemade biscuits with sides of fluffy eggs, fried sausage links, and crispy bacon.

"I see you're preparing our yearly dose of future heart disease," Regina says, breaking the silence as she slips into the kitchen to settle in at Ruby's back. After placing a loud kiss to the junction of Ruby's neck, she rests her chin on Ruby's shoulder.

"Bah! It's not all that bad," Ruby says, grinning as she cranes her neck to glance at her beautiful wife.

Unlike Ruby, who is still in her nightwear, Regina's appearance is perfectly manufactured, casual yet elegant in a cheerful red sweater and white-washed jeans, feet left bare though her toenails are still painted red and decorated with cute little reindeer, courtesy of Mireya who'd had a little help from the mother from whom she'd inherited her artistic streak. Her dark hair is, as always, immaculate, and Ruby finds herself appreciating her wife's decision to return to the jaw-length bob she'd adopted near the end of the Curse. It screams powerful, professional, effortlessly sexy woman, the world's premiere HBIC who'd just as soon verbally abuse a lackey as give them a well earned complement. It's just so Regina, and is such a turn on for Ruby that she's hardly been able to keep her hands to herself since Regina came home from her sister's with the new hairdo. Who would've guessed Zelena would prove so handy, or trustworthy, with a pair of scissors?

And by God does Regina smell divine! It's so unfair, really. No one should rightfully be allowed to smell so amazing. The imported Parisian perfume blends in with and enriches Regina's natural scent, sending frissons of high-voltage desire arcing through Ruby's lower belly.

Wrinkling her nose in offense at how easy it is to be made to want Regina, she adds, "Do you always have to be such a drama queen so early in the morning?"

Regina chuckles, a low throaty tone, rough with sleep, that sends another jolt of unadulterated lust straight into Ruby's groin. "A queen, yes," she says. "But if anyone is dramatic in this family, it's your child. Did you see her last night when I tried to get her to bed? I thought she was going to hold her breath until she passed out."

Ruby snorts at the mention of Mireya's unholy fit. She'd been so wound up about Christmas morning, she'd all but refused to go to bed as ordered. A couple times Ruby almost intervened as Regina cajoled their obstinate offspring, but thought better of it. Not only did Regina work her magic and get Mireya to submit, she doesn't appreciate being even minutely undermined when disciplining their daughter. And besides, there was simply no reason to do so.

There isn't a more capable mother Ruby knows of, which isn't a new opinion by any means. She's thought that since Henry was a baby and Regina was raising him all by herself to be a polite, conscientious, kind, and charming young boy. Nor did it shift when Regina temporarily went off the rails after Henry ran off to Boston and soon thereafter the Curse broke. If there is one thing Ruby is certain of besides their True Love, it's that Regina Mills was born to be a mother. Which is why Ruby thanks her lucky stars every night her children – step and biological – have Regina as a mother. And it's why she rarely ever contradicts Regina's rules and parental decisions. In their house, what Mommy says goes. As Regina would say, " _That's just the way it is. Get over it._ "

"My child, eh?" she replies, reaching back to pinch Regina's shapely, jean-clad rear. The mayoral caboose is in fine form this morning if she does say so herself, and she grins with satisfaction at the undignified yelp the action produces. "So she's mine when she's being obnoxious **.** But when she's being angel? Yeah...then she's yours."

Regina nods, looking unbearably smug even though she's still rubbing at her injured bottom. "Precisely. I'm pleased you understand the arrangement."

Ruby hums, eyes narrowing in mock accusation. Regina has never been shy in about her strict disciplinarian streak. Hell, she'd been downright dictatorial with Henry at times. Lately, though, Ruby's been expected to be the bad guy a whole lot more often, and she has the sneaking suspicion it's because Regina's become enamored with assuming a whole new parenting role. That of the Savior. The cool Mom. The enabler.

Honestly, Ruby kind of likes the change, but this morning it's being used against her, and that's just not fair!

"And which arrangement is that?" she asks pointedly. "The one where, of late, I get to be the bad guy who muscles our kid to bed while you play the hero soothing her ruffled feathers afterward?"

Placing her hands on Ruby's hips, Regina pulls her back flush with her front, causing Ruby to bite back a moan as she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. "Amongst other things, yes." She then nuzzles her nose against the shell of Ruby's ear. "However, you mustn't forget the other perks that come along with it."

"Such as?" Ruby asks, shuddering as Regina's hands trail up her sides, lifting the hem of her t-shirt as they rise along her ribs.

"Such as mornings like this, when I wake up to the unmistakably wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee and an incredibly unhealthy but marvelously delicious breakfast being cooked by my _extremely_ attractive wife. Merry Christmas to me, indeed!" Holding Ruby's shirt up with one forearm, Regina smooths a palm down the expanse of a flat tummy. Nerves flaring with electricity, Ruby covers it with her own hand, sizzling bacon all but forgotten. "On such occasions, I'm so overcome with happiness that I am inspired to…What is it that movie says?" she pauses, rubbing tiny circles down low on Ruby's stomach right above the panty-line. "Ah, yes! Pay it forward."

Breathing heavily, Ruby leans further against Regina, knees weakening with alarming alacrity at her wife's deliberately provocative ministrations. "And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?"

"First, I'd start with something like this..." Regina says, voice a breathy whisper as she leans in to press a series of kisses against Ruby's jaw, then up the shell of her ear, before returning to the lobe to suck it into her hot mouth.

Rapidly dampening down below, Ruby can't hold in the throaty moan this time. "Oh?" she practically pants. "Do go on."

Chuckling, Regina releases Ruby's ear lobe. "Maybe, after a bit, I'd graduate to some of this." She then dips her head to Ruby's neck and latches on to her pulse point with lips and teeth.

Ruby feels the tips of Regina's canines sharpen, Her Majesty's wolf coming out to play. With the full moon less than three days away, Ruby can hardly contain her excitement. Her own wolf stirs beneath her skin, wanting...no, _needing_ her mate's attention something fierce. Nothing feels better than being bit while Regina is inside her during that most supernaturally active period. Nothing. Orgasmic doesn't begin to describe the sensation of her entire body being lit on fire and her every muscle quaking against pleasure that short circuits every last neuron in her brain. Werewolves are famously depicted as sex-obsessed maniacs for a very good reason.

Desperately wanting Regina to sink those poised fangs deep into her neck, then take her hard and dirty against the counter, Ruby nonetheless clamps down on her alter ego. There will be time for some rough play later, when Mireya isn't about to wake up and their bedroom is properly spelled to block any amorous noises from escaping to reach innocent ears. Make no mistake, though, when Wolf's Time next arrives, there will be plenty of howling from them both.

For now, though, Ruby strains against her composure up to the moment Regina suddenly backs off, having just barely drawn blood. Ruby whines at the loss of Regina's mouth on her until an exquisitely textured tongue begins to lap the matching pinprick wounds, instantly sealing them up.

Ruby melts into a puddle of goo at the tender attention. " _Mmmmmmmmmm_..." Thankfully Regina is strong enough to hold her up now that she's also a werewolf with all of the associated physical boons.

"That's not the best part, though," Regina says, lifting her head to rest it against Ruby's, cheek to cheek. "By then, you see, I'd be so turned on, so impassioned for my woman, I'd be unable to stop myself from doing this..."

Without warning, at lightning speed, the hand holding Ruby's shirt up disappears beneath and grasps a handful of breast. After pinching an erect nipple between her thumb and index finger, Regina rolls it between them as she kneads the mound with her palm and lower digits.

A growling groan rumbles through Ruby's frame. "Oh, my sweet Jesus..."

"Yes, dear, I am _that_ good," Regina says, hand on Ruby's abdomen keeping tight pressure to hold them flush. "Of course, worked up as we both would be by then, it would be sinful for me to not go a little bit further. Perhaps with some of this?" And then that hand slips down beneath Ruby's panties to roughly cup her slick folds.

Ruby bucks wildly at the contact as Regina massages the overheated, inflamed flesh. "Oh, yes! Oh, yes! _Hhnnnggg_ …." She's careful to keep her voice low lest she wake a certain light sleeper who will no doubt be rip roaring and ready to go for Christmas morning, thus ending this exciting tryst. It's not easy though, particularly when Regina slips a finger past the threshold of her entrance. Ruby's eyes roll into their sockets when the invading digit begins to move, and then utters a hoarse but modulated shout when Regina scrapes a nail across her g-spot.

"Best turn the heat down, love," Regina says, still maddeningly in control. Damn the woman! "Wouldn't want all this culinary effort to go to waste. Or to burn my kitchen down."

Ruby nods, beads of sweat gathering at her temples. She can smell herself now over the bacon and hear the slapping of wet flesh over the crackling and sizzling in the pan.

"Yeah...hate for that to... _Holy shit! Right-there-don't-stop-it-feels-so-good!_ ….happen..." She reaches up with a shaky hand to switch the eye down to low and is rewarded for her kitchen safety with a bewitchingly purred, " _Good girl_ ," followed by a second and third finger slipping inside her.

In response to her wife's wickedly talented fingers stretching and stroking, Ruby's internal walls pulsate and throb and quiver uncontrollably. She's just about to cum when Regina backs the pace off, denying her the orgasm she craves. Ruby whines in protest, hips rolling frantically, chasing after the sublime friction she's being so cruelly denied. A beat later, when she's about ready to unleash a series of unwholesome, expletive-laden threats, Regina starts moving again.

This process is repeated three times before Ruby's vision starts to whiten over. She's hovering at the precipice of an ecstasy that is threatening to unravel her entire consciousness. Regina is a highly accomplished artist at making sex and torture blur together in a blissful mixture that overloads both body and mind, and Ruby loves every second of it. This morning is no exception.

But then rather than stalling a fourth time, Regina instead adjusts the angle so she can dip her thumb down to Ruby's clit. Just like that, it's all over. Upon contact, Ruby comes so violently she has to brace her arms against either side of the brushed steel appliance to keep from pitching over onto a blistering hot stove-top and bites her lip hard to draw blood to contain the primal scream ripping at her throat.

Once she recovers from the devastating rapture, she finds Regina slowly and methodically cleaning her glistening fingers with her mouth, making sure to throw in an absolutely filthy moan for good measure as she sucks on the digits. As if Ruby isn't already undone enough as it is, she has to be meanly reminded of how much Regina savors her "unique flavor." Her situation down under isn't improved by her wife's subsequent lascivious grin, which only intensifies to show more teeth than the Cheshire cat after she pulls her fingers free from her lips with an audible pop.

Mercifully, the torture ends when Regina playfully swats Ruby's ass, then moves over to the sink. As she washes her hands, she says, "I believe congratulations are in order. You didn't burn the kitchen down! I'm so very proud of you."

Ruby blows out a breath that sweeps dangling strands of hair out of her face. "Yeah...that may be, but sadly I _did_ ruin my underwear. So thanks for that."

Regina's already inflated ego reaches astronomical levels at the admission, which would annoy Ruby to no end if it wasn't par for the course. The harder she comes, the prouder Regina is about having induced it.

"You're welcome, darling," Regina says, then proceeds to assume Ruby's position at the stove to finish breakfast after shoving her away with a sternly issued command to promptly make herself presentable for Christmas breakfast with their daughter.

And when Mireya asks Ruby in the middle of breakfast why her Mama was running down the hallway naked a few minutes earlier? Well. Ruby, crimson with embarrassment, tries to explain the situation without _explaining_ the situation, which isn't exactly easy with Regina poorly disguising her snickering behind her hand. Promises of payback are made after Mireya scurries off to the living room to open presents. Promises Ruby has every intention of keeping.

"I'll show you Merry Christmas, woman!" she grumbles as they make their way into the living room to watch their daughter tear into her many, many presents. She pulls an exaggerated face meant to portray the gravity of her threat as she readjusts her traitorously askew Santa hat.

Regina just laughs.

* * *

The ride to the Storybrooke Stables is a festive one, in spite of some minor sulking from the driver.

If Regina had her way, they'd stay in on Christmas, ideally in the living room where she keeps a rousing fire going to warm them while they sip hot chocolate and read season-appropriate novels to one another or do some indulgent lounging about on the couch, snuggled up under a blanket to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_ or _Home Alone_ or Ruby's number one seasonal film, _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ (Regina likes to tease her that she only likes it because of her penchant for the color in the title, but that's not true at all; it's really just that Rudolph is too adorable for words and she really identifies with him and Hermey being misfits). Meanwhile the kids, Mireya and Henry when he still lived at home, enjoy their shiny new toys. Their parents are mostly content to leave them be, as the sound of their merriment sets a joyous atmosphere to their couch cuddling. Of course, there is mandatory family time where the adults join in on the fun with the kids, whatever that may entail, be it elaborate tea parties or competitive sessions of board games and _Call of Duty_ on X-box. They also have three square meals, all lovingly prepared by Ruby, Regina, or Granny – the latter two normally rotate responsibilities for lunch and dinner while Ruby handles breakfast on a yearly basis. All of this is right up Regina's alley.

The only exceptions to her allergy for voluntarily exposing herself to the harsh Maine winter is venturing out on the property to play in the snow with Mireya and going ice skating on the giant frozen pond Elsa and Emma created during the former Arendellian Queen's first winter in America. Since then the latter has become a Christmas ritual for the two families, including the entire Charming gang. Each year they gather after Christmas lunch for an afternoon of skating. The annual activity became a special highlight of the holiday season once Mireya and Ella were born – incidentally less than a month apart. And since Regina loves to ice skate nearly as much as Ruby and the kids, she doesn't fuss too much having to leave home and brave the bitter Maine winters.

A trip to the Stables, however, falls firmly within the "Do Not Want To Go Zone" for Regina on Christmas morning. That said, she'd reluctantly agreed to accompany Ruby and their daughter, less for Ruby's sake than for Mireya's, whom Ruby had shamelessly roped into begging her Mommy to go. In a most expected turn of events, Mommy folded like a cheap plastic card, powerless to resist the pouting prowess of a raven-haired girl with soulful emerald eyes that belie her youth.

Mireya's ecstatic chattering during the car ride goes a long way toward warming Regina up about their excursion. She prattles on endlessly about how she's going to give her horse, a young colt named Sebastian, a treat for Christmas and then tie some seasonally colored bows into his mane. Though the babbling veers uncomfortably close to spilling the beans, Ruby is proud her ebullient daughter hadn't let the true purpose behind their visit to the stables slip.

Once they arrive, Ruby heads off toward the section Regina has owned since the town's inception, leaving her wife to wrangle their daughter out of the backseat of their Mercedes SUV. She hurries along, ignoring the laser beams boring into her back from an aggrieved and abandoned Regina, in a rush to get there to check everything is in order. That she'll hear later about how she cheated using her werewolf speed is inconsequential at the moment.

At the barn, Ruby finds David and Henry waiting for her with a big smile. The elder Mills child had spent Christmas morning with the Charmings this year, but had been instrumental in helping Ruby plan this potentially hazardous gambit, so she'd explained her plans to Emma, who all but told her son that if he wasn't there for his mother's surprise, she was going to show his new girlfriend the baby pictures Regina had so kindly made copies of for the benefit of her son's birth mother. The threat was unnecessary, though. Henry was chomping at the bit, as it were, to be in on such an enormous operation. Ruby partly thinks his enthusiasm at witnessing the grand reveal is his expectation of getting to watch his first step-mother be turned into a newt. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

Ruby is relieved nonetheless that everything is arranged as requested. After she effusively thanks her helpers, David hands her the neatly wrapped gift intended for a much larger one, then after a tight hug, beats a hasty exit before Regina appears.

"I know you've told me so a hundred times already, but do you really think she'll like her present?" Ruby asks Henry, who is at the stall his horse is kept in.

He nods as he shifts toward her, continuing to absently stroke Walt's dapple gray snout. "For sure. She'll love it. In fact, I think this should keep you out of the dog house for a good long while." Eyes twinkling, a wry smile then spreads across his lips. "And even if she's unhappy about the subterfuge, I guarantee she won't react as badly as she did to my bombshell at Thanksgiving."

Ruby chuckles, shaking her head at the thought of Regina's near apoplectic reaction to her son bringing along his new girlfriend to the annual family feast. It wasn't that Henry was dating a woman nearly as senior to him as Regina is Ruby, either, so much as said woman's identity.

"That was an event for the ages, wasn't it?" she says, sharing Henry's mirth over the, in retrospect, comical, and terrifying, standoff between Henry's mother and significant other. "For a minute there, I thought she was gonna murder your gal pal right there on the front porch."

Henry grimaces. "So did I. For that matter, so did Tink."

"Not surprising, considering their colorful history," Ruby says, thinking back to all the times Regina had cursed the green fairy's name during their nine year relationship. Even mentioning the woman in Regina's general vicinity was a transgression punishable by temporary exile...or a month's worth of additional chores.

Poor Henry. He'd been so gung ho about introducing his Mom to the woman he loved that he hadn't thought twice about their past association. It had been essentially adding gasoline to an already blazing bonfire of resentment and contempt. The resulting explosion nearly derailed the holiday. And the entire block.

Upon opening the front door, Regina had went beet red, furious beyond description at catching sight of the target of an ire she couldn't seem to surrender holding hands with her beloved Little Prince. The admittedly odd couple had been laughing at some joke Henry told as they waltzed up to her front door, in their own little romantic bubble. There was no mistaking how in love the two were, nor was there any misinterpreting the malice in Regina's eyes. The only reason there wasn't a knockdown drag-out fight right then is because Ruby reacted swiftly to sequester her fuming wife until she was calm enough to speak sentences that did not include graphic descriptions of what she'd like to do to, " _that insufferable green bitch who just can't keep her pert little nose out of my life!_ "

Even with Regina's rage regulated enough for lunch to commence, civility at the table was terse at best. As such things usually go, eventually Tink got sick of Regina's passive-aggressive barbs and started to snark back. Things got...animated after that. There was a lot of yelling back and forth before the two disappeared in a cloud of green smoke, leaving Henry and Ruby scrambling to figure out what the hell just happened, and whether they'd have to clean up a godawful mess that may or may not include severed and/or charred body parts. A couple heartbeats later they heard a tell-tale explosion in the back yard. It was followed by several more in succession, then a _whoosh_ and a _whir_ , then some more shouting, and another even more tremendous explosion.

" _Uh oh_ ," Mireya had said, eyes comically wide, recognizing the ruckus for what it was just the same as the adults. " _Mommy's really, really mad._ "

Ruby didn't bother to respond to the grossly understated yet truthful statement. In her panic to keep her wife out of prison, she left Henry with a growled command to watch after his baby sister while she sprinted through the house to intervene before someone died out on her back lawn. But to her absolute astonishment, when she burst through the door and rushed outside, Regina and Tink were both in the yard, on their backs, cackling their heads off.

Turns out they'd just needed to exorcise their bitter feelings with a magical tussle whose only victims were a few trees and some shrubs. And Regina's beloved gardening shed, which caught a fireball and burnt to a crisp before she and her son's girlfriend could salvage it. The explosion had been caused by the fire reaching one of the gas canisters they kept full for their lawn mower. Neither woman has yet to admit who started laughing first, just that they'd found the situation so absurdly hilarious that their anger drained out of them only to be replaced by a mirth they couldn't restrain. Strangely enough, Thanksgiving went swimmingly after that.

But guess what? Regina didn't sleep on the couch that night. Ruby is still sore about that injustice.

"That's true. I'm glad they worked it out, though," Henry says, leaving the stall behind to approach Ruby. "I need Tink and Mom to get along. I don't want to have to choose between them. I love them both too much."

Seeing Henry so conflicted tugs on Ruby's heart strings, just like it always does. And when she opens her arms wide, he wastes no time falling into them, just like he did when he was ten. Clutching her tightly, he rests his chin on her shoulder and heaves a troubled sigh.

"You'll never have to choose, kiddo," Ruby says, gently rubbing her step-son's back. She pulls back to look Henry in the eyes. "Your Mom loves you. More than any grudge. Even one that is, for once, legitimate. All she wants is for you to be happy, and a blind woman could see that Tink does that for you."

Henry nods, his dark eyes shining with affection for the woman he has been dating six months now. "She really does. I think she's the one, Ruby. I feel it in my gut."

Ruby gives him a mysterious smile. "Can I tell you a secret?" He nods again. "I knew that just from watching you two together at Thanksgiving."

Henry seems surprised by that, though she's not sure why. The whole Dorothy fiasco aside, her instincts are rarely mislead.

"You did?" he asks. "How?"

Shrugging, Ruby bites her lip before answering, "You look at each other the same way your Mom and I do. The same as Emma does Elsa, and Snow does David. It's the look of True Love. I'd recognize it anywhere."

"Do you really think we have True Love?"

Henry's question is posed with such hesitant hope that Ruby probably would have lied to him if she didn't believe it to be the truth. She loves him too much to hurt him so badly. Since she knows it is, though, she grasps the young man by the shoulders, feeling parental over him in a way she hasn't since he was a youngster often left in her care because his mothers were out saving the town from the baddie of the week.

"I know so," she says as earnestly as she can. "So don't worry about your Mom. She and Tink buried the hatchet for the most part. Just...go easy on her for a bit, eh? She held on to that anger for a long time. It's not gonna go away overnight."

Henry nods his agreement. "I get that. So does Tink." He heaves another sigh, then scrubs a hand over his face. "She told me what she did, by the way. The whole Robin debacle… Not that I didn't already know, just that I think I'm the first person she ever actually admitted it to. Besides Mom, of course. It was a terrible mistake she should have apologized for a long time ago, but at the very least she finally stepped up and did the right thing that night before we left."

"Yeah, your Mom told me. That was good of Tink, and for my part, you can tell her there's no hard feelings. Still, I think she should tread lightly around Regina a while. She says she's over it, but you know your Mom..." Ruby pauses, then forgets what she was about to say upon hearing two sets of footsteps approach. The moment of truth is at hand. She gestures for Henry to remain silent and unseen. "They're here. Get ready." After he nods understanding, she deftly exits the barn.

"Hold up a sec before we go in," she says to her wife, deftly closing the door just as she slides through. She keeps the present meant to serve as a hint for what lay behind the door hidden behind her back.

Regina scowls at her crossly. "You dragged us all the way out here to stand outside the stables in the freezing cold?"

Rather than get into a huff over Regina's snippiness, Ruby smiles and produces the wrapped box from behind her back. "No. I dragged you out here to give you this."

Brown eyes narrow in suspicion as Regina takes the proffered item. "What are you up to, Ruby?"

Ruby shakes her head, rocking on the balls of her feet. "Not telling! You'll just have to find out." That earns her an epic combination of an eye roll and an annoyed scoff.

"Fine," Regina says, sighing with resignation. She spares a cautious smile at Mireya. "Let's see what all this fuss is about, shall we, darling?"

With their daughter cheering her on, Regina carefully unwraps the box to preserve the paper while Ruby watches, equally bemused and stupidly in love with this sassy, witty, hilarious, vexatious, peculiar, wonder of a woman. Honestly, Diana Prince has nothing on Regina Mills.

 _Eat your heart out, Gal Gadot,_ Ruby thinks, again marveling at her luck. Nebulous, effervescent joy descends on her from above, and it is only enhanced by her daughter's infectious exuberance.

"Yay! Open it, Mommy! Open it! Hurry!"

Mireya's clapping and bouncing is too cute for words, so cute that Regina's scowl of concentration relaxes into an amused smile which then morphs into utter confusion. "Ruby...wha…?" She pauses to produce the silver accessory belonging to her much larger gift. "A bridle? What on earth is this for?"

A cheek grin lights up Ruby's face. "A horse."

Regina heaves a longsuffering sigh at the corny joke. "Obviously. But I don't need anything for Enrique..."

Ruby cuts off the incorrect assumption. "It's not for Enrique, hon."

Regina's brows furrow deeply as she searches Ruby's eyes for the meaning behind the gift. Finding none, she presses, "Then why?"

Ruby doesn't get a chance to answer before Mireya bursts into a gleeful shout. Raven hair plaited into a long braid stretching halfway down her back, the little girl snatches her older mother's hand and begins to tug her toward the barn.

"C'mon Mommy! I'll show you! Come on, come on! Let's go inside! Hurry!"

"Yeah, Mommy," Ruby adds, chuckling at her daughter's antics. She steps aside with a flourish. "Go have a look. Your present is just through the door."

Head craning to the side, Regina studies Ruby for a moment, again trying to pry some sort of indication as to what her gift is. But Ruby remains steadfast, smiling secretively at her spouse, who purses her lips through an exhale before squaring her shoulders with confident resolve. Like the Queen she is, Regina marches the five paces separating her from the door, Mireya hanging on to her the entire way, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. She unceremoniously throws open the door with her magic, then goes dead still.

"Merry Christmas, Mommy!" Mireya shouts, again bouncing and clapping with unfettered delight.

Regina fixates on her son, who is standing in the center of the barn, arms crossed over his chest and a giant smile splitting his cheeks. "Henry! What are you doing here?"

"I came to help Ruby give you your present," he says. "Merry Christmas, Mom!" And then he gestures toward the stall to his right where the already saddled creature, majestic of stature and complexion, that Ruby painstakingly tamed and trained is currently snacking on an apple Henry had snuck him after she slid out the door to greet his mother and sister. The steed's sleek white coat shimmers in the early morning sunlight filtering into the barn. He's a gorgeous animal in Ruby's eyes, and she knows Regina shares that opinion by her expression alone.

"Oh." Lifting a hand to her mouth in open astonishment, Regina's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when she sets them upon her unique present. Something that literally no one else on Earth has but her. Visage melting as gratitude, awe, and joy war for dominance, she flits her gaze between the animal now studying her curiously and Ruby, who is almost as animated with felicity as their daughter is. "Oh, Ruby! Is that…?"

Unable to hold in her effusive joy anymore, Ruby dances to Regina's side. Lacing their fingers together, she, like Mireya did earlier, tugs Regina along toward the stall. "An Arendellian Fjord? He most certainly is! And he's all yours!"

This breed of horse is the one for which Arendelle is famous. Only royalty is permitted to keep them as mounts, otherwise they are allowed to roam the lands freely. If it weren't for Ruby's inroads with the monarch, her hope of acquiring one would have been nearly nonexistent. As it turns out, being friends with Queen Anna's sister and sister-in-law has it's perks beyond season tickets to the Red Sox and ice cold beer whenever hanging out at the Swan's.

Still, it wasn't easy enticing one of the highly intelligent creatures to entrust her with it's ready to transition foal. It took a week of diligent diplomacy in the form of every type of treat imaginable and helping the mare scare off some predators as the wolf to gain her trust. As a reward, that mare was given the run of the royal properties and has since been officially adopted by Queen Anna as her personal mount.

"But how? When?" Regina asks, bewildered that Ruby has pulled off this logistical feat when she's chronically unable to organize her side of the closet. Or her drawers in the dresser. Or her rather large collection of _Grease_ memorabilia that she somehow conned Regina into letting her keep in one of the mansion's many spare bedrooms.

Ruby takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. She knows she's about to get reamed. "Remember that trip I made with Emma a year ago? Yeah...I got him then." The vein in Regina's forehead pops out, confirming her assumption. Ruby braces for impact, which hits a nanosecond later.

"A year ago! You've had him here an entire year and didn't bother to inform me?!"

"Well, yeah," Ruby says, shrugging. Her reasons are rock solid, so she feels absolutely no guilt over the clandestine nature of what Henry had officially coined as Operation Pegasus. "He's your Christmas present. You don't get Christmas presents if it's not Christmas! Besides, I had to imprint on him so I could train him to be around werewolves. You know I prefer running to riding, and I couldn't have your safety at risk when I decide to join you. So I spent the year helping him adjust and then training him. I also may have stolen your clothes to wear and spritzed on your perfume while I did the above. Pretty sure he'll take to you in no time, especially since you're a natural with horses."

When Regina just stands there, speechless, Ruby nudges her forward toward the stall. The steed is already at the gate, head hanging over, discerning eyes imploring his new human for some attention. "Go on. Go say hello."

Regina does so, approaching steadily, with confidence born of years around horses. The woman really is a natural. Little wonder she'd been such an accomplished equestrian in her youth.

"Oh, my." Regina gasps in wonder as she nears, and again when the vivacious Fjord nuzzles his nose into her extended hand. "Aren't you a beautiful boy!" She's gushing as she rubs up the length of his snout and down the side of his jaw. She then looks over her shoulder at Ruby, eyes curious and sparkling with delight. "What's his name?"

"Justus."

As if on command, Justus whinnies, nodding his head up and down in a manner far too dramatic to be accidental, which has everyone either giggling or chuckling with warm amusement. Elsa had told Ruby before she ventured out into the Arendellian wilderness that the Fjord's were highly attuned to humans, even when wild, and could pick up verbal cues with an acumen that rivals the Hominidae of earth. That, along with their keen intelligence, makes them perfect traveling companions. Ruby has since confirmed these assertions as true, if not a little bit of understatement. Sometimes Justus behaves as if aware of her thoughts, though it's likely he's just picking up on subtle body language or hints as to her mood in the inflection of her voice. Whatever the source of his perception, she's been constantly impressed by him, and can't wait to witness Regina discovering all of these attributes for herself.

"Let me guess," Regina says, "that has something to do with the oblique question some years ago as to what I might name my next horse?" She then tilts her head and bats her eyes just like Ruby did when she'd posed the hypothetical. "' _Should you ever think of getting another.'_ "

Ruby grins in affirmation, and at her wife's attempt at an impersonation of her awesome skills of persuasion. "Got it in one."

"I must admit, that was very subtle. Well played, Mrs. Mills." Now scratching under Justus' chin, Regina shrewdly peers at Ruby. "I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned by your skill with deception."

"In this case, definitely impressed!" Ruby answers, then ducks her head as a blush covers her neck and cheeks. Looking up through her lashes, she nips at her bottom lip as she shoves her hands into her pockets. "So do you like your present?"

Mireya echoes the question, albeit farm more energetically, as she prances with youthful cheer next to her mother. "Yeah, do you like him, Mommy? Huh?"

Abandoning Justus for a moment, Regina wraps Mireya up in a resounding hug that includes lifting her up off the ground and twirling them both around. "I absolutely adore him, sweetheart!" she sings as Mireya squeals with childish elation. "He's the best Christmas present ever!"

Once back on the ground, Mireya runs over to Ruby, out of breath from laughing. "Mama, did you hear that? We did good with our present!"

"Yes, we did, baby!" Ruby says, then holds her hands up at a level her daughter can reach. "Gimme high fives!" Mireya slaps her hands as hard as she can, which isn't very, but Ruby still feigns that it smarts to make her little girl feel powerful. It won't be long until she won't have to pretend, though, and that is a thought that makes her want turn into a blubbering mess.

Mireya is growing up so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that Regina was in hospital, travailing through a lengthy labor that tested the patience of everyone in the room, Mom especially so. Ruby heard more profanity from Regina during that stretch of fourteen hours than she has before or since all added up.

"Do you think he's up for a ride?" Regina asks, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts. She notices that while she was lost in memories of holding her baby girl for the first time Mireya has moved away to join her brother in giving her colt, Sebastian, his Christmas treat.

She nods affirmatively. "I know he is. David had him out earlier this morning for a warm up."

Regina looks surprised. "He did?"

"Who else besides Henry do you think spent the past year helping me get this handsome guy ready for his new Mom?" Again, Justus proves his perceptiveness and personality by whinnying in approval at the phrase 'handsome guy'. Chuckling, Ruby gives him a scratch behind the ears that has his eyes closing in visceral satisfaction.

Regina observes this, grinning at them both, then adds, "Well...I'll have to be sure to thank him."

Ruby thinks that's highly appropriate, but there are other, more fun things to consider at the moment. "You can do that later, babe. For now, let's go for a ride!"

"Even you?" Regina asks, looking almost as surprised as she was she first saw Justus. She is well aware of Ruby's preference to do her own running and not have another animal do it for her. Not that Regina doesn't love to run as the wolf just as much as she does, just Ruby didn't grow up around horses, learning everything there is to know about taking care of them and how to do all manner of riding from cross country to vaulting.

"Even me," she says, then waves a hand toward the stall containing Regina's gracefully aging stallion. "I'll take Enrique so he doesn't get all jealous being left out. And...if we happen to stumble across our choice skating spot where I might know the rest of our family is already waiting? All the better."

Regina beams back at her, and it's clear to Ruby that the excitement has set in for her now. It's almost childlike, and Ruby thinks her wife has rarely appeared more beautiful or seemed so carefree.

"Sounds like a plan," says Regina, who proceeds to turn and call out to her son. "Henry? Would you care to let your sister ride with you? Sebastian needs a re-shoe before he can be taken back out."

Henry gives his mother a thumbs up. "Not a problem," he says, and then offers Mireya his hand. "Come on squirt, let's get Walt ready to go."

"Okay, Bubba!" Mireya takes his hand without a second thought, wearing a megawatt smile that never fails to make Ruby's heart flutter.

Bubba is the name Henry was awarded when Ruby did a sad impersonation of Henry's favorite X-men character, the Wolverine, while an impressionable two year old was present. From Ruby's playful Bub, Mireya derived her brother's nickname. It stuck. He's been Bubba to her ever since. That said, no one else is allowed to use the moniker but Mireya. According to Henry, that privilege belongs only to his closest sibling.

A second later, Ruby hears her daughter chirp, "Hey, Walt! It's me, Mireya! You remember that time Bubba took us down to the beach? Huh? Do you? That was the bestest day ever!"

Both Ruby and Regina chuckle under their breath at their daughter, then settle against one another to watch, dopey smiles on both their faces, as Henry helps his sister to help him saddle his horse.

"You really went all out, didn't you?" Regina asks after a moment, eyes turning back to her handsome steed.

Ruby nuzzles her nose against the shell of Regina's ear and is pleased to note that her wife shivers at the contact. "Only the best for you, baby."

Regina hums appreciatively at the whispered words, then sidles up into Ruby's personal space. Looping her arms low around Ruby's waist, she gives her an Eskimo kiss before replying, "Well, I didn't need such a peerless specimen of horseflesh to have that. Not when I already do. You three – my family – are everything I've ever wanted or needed. This? This is just a smattering of sprinkles atop my Hot Fudge Sundae."

Ruby snaps her fingers, lips screwing up in an ' _aww shucks_ ' manner. "Damn. Knew I shoulda named him Fudge." Regina rolls her eyes but smiles just the same, so Ruby gives her a loud kiss on the cheek. "I'm only kidding! Mostly." She winks, then reaches up to frame her wife's face with her hands. "Merry Christmas, Regina. Along with our daughter, you're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Tears glistening in her eyes, Regina presses their foreheads together. "Merry Christmas, _mi amor_. And you know I feel the same."

Heart swelling with so much joy she can hardly stay still, Ruby leans down to seal their lips together. The kiss, while just a modest exchange since the kids are present, is nonetheless one that successfully conveys their mutual devotion.

And when they show up on horseback to what the people of Storybrooke have fondly labeled as Frozen Pond, the entire Mills and Charming clan plus Granny, and in addition a rosy cheeked Tinker Bell, are waiting with yet more supplies and accessories for Justus. Zelena, along with her daughter Robin and her partner Dorothy, is first in line to greet her sister with an enormous hug.

As the gift giving goes on and she intently watches realization dawn for Regina as to how many people had been involved in her Christmas surprise, toasty warmth spreads through Ruby's chest, warding off the cold. It's a moment of revelation in which Regina is forever dispelled of any illusions as to how important she is and how loved she is, not just by her immediate family, but by the extended one that has all but adopted her as an integral part of their own nuclear clans.

To Snow, Regina is a second mother, to David, a valued advisor, and to Neal, the coolest Gram ever. To Emma, Regina is a best friend while to Elsa she is a trusted confidante. To Zelena, Regina is a sounding board and a companion in mischief with whom she keeps the town on its toes, whereas to Robin she is a role model that inspires the young girl to proclaim to anyone who will listen that when she grows up she wants to be Mayor of Storybrooke just like her Aunt Gina. To Ruby and Mireya and Henry, though, Regina is the north star that guides their path through life and the embodiment of everything that makes life worth living.

There isn't a day goes by that Ruby doesn't thank the gods for the conspiracy of events that lead to Emma being banished to the Wish World. Had those things not happened, she might have remained in Oz for the rest of her life, content enough with Dorothy, only having never experienced the benevolent pervasiveness of True Love. There is so more to True Love, she's discovered, than mere romance. It is a catch all term for an affection that spans more definitions and descriptions than Webster's could provide, and for a devotion so infinitely enormous that those eternally powerful forces time and space can never quench it. It's something Dorothy couldn't have given her, in spite of her best efforts.

For Ruby, Regina fills every last lingering void from a life pocked by abandonment and loss and self-hatred. There isn't any aspect of their beings they don't share. Their home is daily sanctified by a love that spans universes and their bed has been consecrated over and over again by a passion that originates somewhere within them science cannot measure or identify with all of the highly specialized instruments available for such pursuits. They keep no secrets from one another. There are no weaknesses in their relationship. Do they disagree on occasion? Yes. Have fights broken out between them that some would say border on outright violence? Sure. But even then those incidents somehow strengthen their essential connection whose mystical depths Ruby has yet to fully plumb. Mireya may be her little moon, but Regina is her sun, without whom she cannot fathom existing.

More than once over the past year, her friends have told her she's crazy for going to such lengths over a Christmas present, even if it is for her wife. Loving someone as much as she loves Regina, she tells them, means there is no end to what she's willing to do to make her happy. So to see how radiant Regina is, and how much this gift has meant to her, gives Ruby a pleasure in and of itself that cannot be quantified or qualified or replicated by some thoughtless bauble she could have purchased in less than five minutes on the internet or in a local jewelry store. Jared's can't make a woman beam like that. But knowing her and proving that knowledge with the perfect gift can, which is what Ruby has managed to do. It's a satisfaction that she'll never forget.

By the time all the additional presents have been handed out, enough for Justus to not want for anything for a very long time, Regina is no longer fighting back her tears.

Of course, Tink chooses that precise moment to make her presence known. "Safe to say this may just turn out to be a fairy good Christmas, don't ya think?" With a wink, she then saunters off in Henry's direction.

And whereas Ruby expects Regina to lob some half-serious aspersion in the blonde's direction, instead she swipes at her long lashes to rid them of moisture and then turns to Ruby with a smile that illuminated by an internal serenity that shines from her every pore.

"Maybe surprises aren't so bad after all," she says, and then takes Ruby by the hand to lead them toward the pond to skate until their feet are sore.

Ruby couldn't agree more, which is why she doesn't utter a word of complaint when she gets her own surprise much later that night.

"Hot damn. Tink was right. This was a fairy good Christmas, alright!" is all she can say after slumping in a boneless heap onto Regina's prone, very naked body, which is still shivering from the aftershocks of their joint orgasms.

Regina just laughs.

 **THE END**


End file.
